I have to tell you that my favourite holiday time is coming up. Yup, it’s Easter. Being Catholic, the religious aspect of Lent is meaningful, but I want to talk about what this holiday means to me in terms of family and food. Those two words go hand in hand. Starting off the weekend on Good Friday, a day that Catholics traditionally do not eat meat, we have our very own seafood fest. Our tradition is to have lobster, crab legs, and shrimp. The challenge is figuring out what to wear to this traditional dinner…which pants have the most give?
Round two takes place on Saturday at the in-laws. This is a household that has an upstairs kitchen (the “good kitchen”). This is the kitchen where cooking never actually takes place. It is being preserved; presumably for the “good company” (the Pope, I think). The actual cooking takes place in the base-a-ment. This is the heart of the house. It is the entrance from the garage, even for company (only the Pope will get to enter from the front door); it is the laundry room; and most importantly, it is where all of the wonderful smells of traditional Italian cooking emanate. The challenge is staying out of my mother-in-law's way and not nibbling on the stuffed and breaded fried olives or the fried eggplant or the roasted peppers before dinner (or is it supper?). By the way…in preparation for this Saturday feast, she will have set the table on Thursday 
.
Our tradition on Easter Sunday morning is to put the cinnamon buns in the oven while we watch the kids excitedly search the house for the chocolate eggs and treats that the Easter Bunny has so cleverly hidden (hopefully long enough to sit and enjoy a coffee). The challenge here is to be able to sustain my daughter’s request to continue playing hide-and-seek with the eggs with mommy for the next week or so.
After sitting down to our traditional Easter Sunday meal: BBQ’d lamb chops and Longo’s Spiral Honey Ham (smacking my lips right now!), the challenge begins…to work off the weight gained from non-stop eating all weekend.
Click here to read the flyer article “Holiday Traditions” /RosanneBlog/uploads/Articles/April 3 - Holiday Traditions.doc. I welcome you to share your personal stories on holiday traditions and challenges.
By the way, “R”, I have a marshmallow with peanut butter and Nutella on a stick in the freezer RIGHT NOW!!! Great suggestion. My cousin also has a good one…peanut butter and Nutella spread on a salty cracker…and put in the freezer. Great combination of sweet and salty!